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AVA
A cold, damp sensation, spreads through my body. I wrinkle my nose. The smell of mud drifts on the slight breeze. Rolling over, I hear a crunch beneath my head and body. Opening an eye, I notice I’m lying on the forest floor. I open my other eye and then sit straight up.
Did I sleep on the forest floor?
I scratch my head and then look at my hand. Not one scratch remains. It has completely healed.
What the heck?
I feel for my phone in my back pocket. Pulling it out, I press a button. Nothing lights up. I hold down the on and off switch. The screen stays black. My phone is dead.
Standing up, I get my bearings and look around at where I am. I start to sway and everything blurs. Darkness swallows the light again.
The sweat pouring out of my body can’t cool my skin; it feels as though it is evaporating in its own heat. I’m burning up. My hand reaches out as I hold on to a tree to keep me balanced. Blue and pink flames leap from the trees to my skin. I snap my hand back and fall to the ground. I scratch at the dirt and thrust my hand in the coolness of the moist soil. My hand relaxes and feels normal again. I wipe the sweat off my face.
I wonder if my whole body will feel better if I lay under the earth?
I need to find a natural ditch big enough to fit my body in.
* * *
DRIP, DRIP, DRIP. A tap sounds in the distance—fingers tapping on something. The TV sounds as though it’s right here in the forest with me. The water in the shower is running in a room only two doors away from me. And then people are arguing.
‘How ... is this possible?’ A husky voice asks. His voice sounds frantic.
‘You know exactly how,’ this voice is sceptical, unbelieving and more rougher. Maybe this person does not care about the other?
‘We can’t have her here when the ...’ the first voice mutters.
The other one sighs.
Footsteps walk into the room. The sudden movement of the door stirs up the air. It’s no longer woodsy as before. It’s smells like the eucalyptus leaves from the forest with a tinge of some sort of smokey aroma. It’s attractive and strong.
‘She won’t be back for another month. You know how it is chasing the enemy,’ the second voice says.
‘So, what are you going to do about the girl?’ A female voice asks.
I hear a heavy sigh, and I don’t like the way my body is feeling. An invisible string is pulling on me. My stomach feels heavy, and I have a strong urge to slump my body further into the bed.
‘You need to deal with this when she wakes, and be careful because she’s new and won’t be fully developed until, well, you know,’ his voice is authoritative and soft.
I listen to the different rhythms of each heartbeat and drift again into sleep.
* * *
‘DOES SHE KNOW WHAT you are?’ a female voice full of concern asks. Her voice sounds a lot like Jane’s.
‘Yes, there are no secrets between us.’ This voice sounds like Dakota.
‘Except when the princess arrived.’ Chairs scrap against the floor.
‘Son, you can’t. It will start a war!’
‘I’ve only been on this earth almost two decades. I’m still young,’ the younger voice snaps.
‘Yes, I can tell,’ the familiar female voice of Jane replies. Her snide comments boil under my skin. ‘I would’ve protected her. Her mother is ...’
‘We know,’ the male voices say in unison.
‘I just ... in all my years, I have never seen this kind of magic work so fast,’ Jane ponders.
‘That’s because of his lineage. His mother wasn’t just any warrior. She was—’ the rough voice muses.
‘I know who she was. Such a pity though. She would’ve made a fine queen,’ Jane reflects.
Is that really Jane speaking? And was that Dakota speaking before? Who are these people? What are they talking about?
My eyes open slightly. In the blurred vision, I notice the people in the room. It looks like Dakota, Jackson and Jane, but I’m not so sure. It could just be my imagination.
But if it is them, why am I here?
Where am I?
I’m falling again but not so heavy as the last time. This time, I feel more awake and alert. If only my eyes would stay open.